The Silver Screen Oasis

With my exposure to silent films being a foot wide and an inch deep, I’ve immersed myself in silents since Chris announced that this poll would be next. That immersion added two movies that were not on my preliminary list.

1. THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1928)
2. SUNRISE (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
3. THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
4. FOOLISH WIVES (Erich von Stroheim, 1922)
5. DER LETZE MANN (F. W. Murnau, 1924)
6. A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS (Yasujiro Ozu, 1934)
7. THE MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
8. GREED (Erich von Stroheim, 1924)
9. BIRTH OF A NATION (D.W. Griffith, 1915)
10. UN CHIEN ANDALOU (Luis Bunuel/Salvador Dali, 1928)
11. INTOLERANCE (D.W. Griffith, 1916)
12. EARTH (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1930)
13. THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (Robert Wiene, 1919)
14. THE CROWD (King Vidor, 1928)
15. THE UNKNOWN (Tod Browning, 1927)

I throw myself to the mercy of the Gods of Silents, German Expressionism and proto-Film Noir. Honestly, Herr Fritz Lang, DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER (1922), METROPOLIS (1925) and SPIONE (1928) came thisclose to making the list.

Looks to me like you've been watching some quality silents, ChiO.

Gagman 66 wrote:Joel,

Wow, great list, although I personally don't like HE WHO GETS SLAPPED all that much. I have yet to see Fritz Langs SPIES, but I finally got that one recently. Vampyr (1932) isn't a Silent film I don't believe? Garbo's THE TEMPTRESS was released in 1926, not 1928, or did you mean THE TEMPEST with Barrymore?

You've got me dead to rights. Temptress is 26, and there is indeed very sparse dialogue on Vampyr. I guess I saw it listed earlier and in my love for all things Dryer, I leapt before I looked. I've replaced it with Barbed Wire, which I have come to know from your introduction.

There were tons of movies that could (and should) have made this list, but I tried to spread things out a bit and not favor a director or actor too heavily. Many of these choices were films that touched my heart. Not because they were silent, but the fact that they are moving studies of humanity. Other films I could have listed might have been:

Seventh Heaven
The Scarlet Letter
The Last Laugh
The Penalty
Sparrows
The Wind
Tol'able David
Michael
Blackmail
La Roue
Terje Vigen
Sunrise
Greed
Within Our Gates
The Blackbird
The Scar of Shame
King of Kings
The Love Light
The River
...and many more!

As for He Who Gets Slapped, there is some sentiment there, as it was one of the first films that really made me aware of the power of silent medium, but I've never seen anything--silent or talkie--that reaches its power in self-torture and humiliation.

Here is a man whose faith in others is so destroyed that he willingly relives the pain every night, because that is the only lasting reality in this world he can cling to. Chaney wears his wounds proudly with the idea that his cynical performance buffets him from his true feelings, but it only takes a kind-hearted young girl to stir his heart (much like Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux would explore over 20 years later) once again.

It’s also interesting to note in our day of Reality Television, that his pitful act is the hit of the show. Why do human beings so enjoy the suffering of another? Answering that question might change the world as we know it.

1. Sunrise
2. Flesh & The Devil
3. The Scarlet Letter
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. Old Heidelberg
6. The Crowd
7. A Woman of Affairs
8. Saga of Gosta Berling
9. He Who Gets Slapped
10. Passion of Joan of Arc
11. Faust
12. Student of Prague
13. The Unknown
14. Lady Windemere's Fan
15. Son of the Sheik


Yes, I know I left off some "important" titles, but this time around I wanted to include more of my favorites.

Joel,

Positively inspired post! I am left Speechless! Bravo! I guess I never really looked at HE WHO GETS SLAPPED from that perspective before.

So glad that you really enjoyed BARBED WIRE! I think it is an Amazing film that seriously needs to be seen, and a major DVD release! I think this is a movie that speaks volumes to the viewer while not uttering a word, and provides a powerfully message for people to think about! And you have UNDERWORLD in your Top 10 too! That's wonderful!

And yes like I said, once you have seen a fair number of these films, it quickly becomes very difficult to narrow down favorites! There are just so many films that leave a lasting mark!

I seem to be back just in time to add my own list! it's going to be difficult....

The Crowd (1928) K. Vidor
The Big Parade (1925) K. Vidor
Visages d'Enfants (1923-25) J. Feyder
The Wind (1928) V. Sjöström
Terje Vigen (1917) V. Sjöström
The White Sister (1923) H. King
Tol'able David (1921) H. King
L'Argent (1928) M. L'Herbier
Sir Arne's Treasure (1919) M. Stiller
The River (1929) F. Borzage
Seventh Heaven (1927) F. Borzage
Au Bonheur des Dames (1930) J. Duvivier
The Last Command (1928) J. von Sternberg
The Black Pirate (1926) A. Parker
A Woman of Paris (1923) C. Chaplin

Glad to so many fans of The Crowd. That movie's a revelation to me. I have a secret desire to John Sims.

I replaced Dumont's Variety with Rene Clair's short fantasy film Paris qui dort. That's one of the most inventive pieces of cinema I've ever seen.

And the amount of Lubitsch, Sjostrom, and John Ford that has shown has convinced I need to check out more of their silent work.

Thank heavens you're back Christine, I'd forgotten A Woman of Paris

All the lists are wonderful. Thanks for participating and keep those lists coming.

A Woman of Paris is a truly great film, but I'm not sure what I could bump from my list to place it in.

1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920
2. Robin Hood 1922
3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923
4. Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler 1922
5. Napoleon 1927
6. The Iron Horse 1924
7. The Sea Hawk 1924
8. The Unknown 1927
9. The Bat 1926
10. Phantom of the Opera 1925
11. Ben-Hur 1925
12. The Mark of Zorro 1920
13. The Unholy Three 1925
14. The Last Command 1928
15. The Docks of New York 1928

in order:

1. THE BIRTH OF A NATION
2. INTOLERANCE
3. THE BIG PARADE
4. BROWN OF HARVARD
5. WAY DOWN EAST
6. SADIE THOMPSON
7. STELLA MARIS
8. WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER
9. LITTLE OLD NEW YORK
10. TOL'ABLE DAVID
11. THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE
12. BEN-HUR
13. THE MERRY WIDOW
14. SUNRISE
15. THE LAST COMMAND

as soon as I listed 15 I came up with another TWENTY great silent dramas that could easily make the list....

great topic!